Ai no Koto Shiranai (You don't know love)
by MakotoHana
Summary: Despite having superhuman capabilities and a rather rash attitude, Eva still feels insecure about announcing her 'cyborg status' to public. But after a bad breakup with her human boyfriend and picking a fight with a monster, Eva finds herself; mind, body and heart falling straight into the arms of the Demon Cyborg. GenosxCyborg!OC minor SaitamaxFubuki
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I do not own the characters of One Punch Man(well, except for my OC) BTW, English is not my native language, thus, please pardon my mistakes. If any of you would like to help me edit, please tell me and I am ever willing to permit you to do so. (LOL this is actually a copy/paste author's note from my previous short - lived fanfic. RIP old fanfic.)**

 **I name my chapters based on song titles or phrases from songs that inspired me to write certain chapters or scenes. I don't have a proofreader for the time being so the rhythm of my story is just all over the place since I wrote it on a whim. Haha. Ok, I'm gonna stop babbling here and hope you guys enjoy the story**

X

 ** _You told me you love me, all those beautiful lies..._**

 ** _Ai no Koto Shiranai - Chapter 1_**

 _"Love is like a lost object. If you search too hard, you won't find it. But if you forget about it momentarily, it will show up in the most unexpected way…" – Anonymous_

One thing can lead to another.

It could be something good to something even better. It could even be an escalating catastrophe.

With the burden of getting her cheer squad into shape fit for the championships that was like 3 months away, minus the fact that newbies with _nada_ basic cheer knowledge dominated this year's batch, 3 months was like 3 weeks. Totally outstanding math skills there.

For Eva, it couldn't get any worse right? _Wrong._

As her cheer squad took a ten minute break under her command, and just as she was about to sit down and rethink her decision for filling up the captain position, Yumiko came up to her after taking half an hour too long to piss.

The girl was heaving and wheezing so hard, she sounded like a choking beaver. "Eva…I…" and huffed again. "I…"

"Sorry?" Eva finished off for her. "Well, Yumi – chan, you should just say you need to take a shit the next time you know? Got tube congestion of something? Girl that's _nasty_." She said, and took a swig from her water bottle.

Yumiko waved a hand to her face while shaking her head violently at the same time. It surprised Eva for a moment. The girl had never looked so troubled before. It was even worse than flunking her math test three years in a row just because she was an airhead and she couldn't give two shits about fixing her problem.

Eva's eyebrows furrowed. "Yumi? Are you OK?"

Yumiko looked at her. "It's not about me, Eva." She said slowly. "It's about you."

Eva slowly put away her bottle to her side and tucked away a strand of her silver hair. It was her habit when she felt agitated or flustered. "I…don't get it. What's going on, Yumi?"

"Y-your boyfriend…" Yumiko stuttered. She was having so much of a hard time trying to say out the rest of the sentence without looking like she was about to cry.

Eva immediately sprung to her feet. "Ryuu – kun? What's wrong with him?"

"I think you should follow me." Yumiko said. "Boys' locker room."

The moment Eva and Yumiko barged into the boys' locker room, watching another girl deep throating her own boyfriend, Eva was lost for moment. No, she didn't lose her mind. She was just lost. Her mind was so vacuumed, silence was louder than her own thoughts.

Well, what was there to think as you watch your guy getting it on with some needy slut who was probably two years younger than you? Man, did that bitch have some serious cleavage for a 16 year old.

Eva laughed. She didn't know why. But she did.

Ryuu was so startled that his own fingers fumbled with his zipper while the other girl was scared shitless and ran to hide in a shower stall. "Eva…babe…I…I can explain, OK? Don't lose your cool yet, Ok?"

She laughed louder. Yumiko was trembling so badly next to her.

"Nah…Ryuunoske, you can swallow back all that shit and spit it out for another stupid bitch OK? I wished I had recorded that little demonstration and replay it every time to remind me that I could've been smarter." She crossed her arms, her smile never leaving her lips.

Ryuu's tall frame hovered over her, trying to put his hands on her shoulder. "Babe, I…"

That was when she snapped.

With only a push, she sent him flying backwards and straight into the lockers, an impact so forceful his body dented and broke the doors. He saw his own blood running down his arm and he looked at Eva, his eyes spelling fear he never would've imagined he would have for her. "E – Eva? What - ? H – How?"

"Now I'm starting to lose my cool." Eva spoke deeply. "Trust me, that wasn't even a quarter of what I have in store for you. I'm sorry if I kept you sexually frustrated all these while you had to get another bitch to suck your dick, but you wanna know why I didn't want to have sex with you yet? It's not me, Ryuu. It's _you_. You're not ready. You don't know me. You don't know what I'm capable of. I can _break_ you."

The raven haired male said nothing. His jaw was tightly clenched to suppress the beating sensation all over his body from crashing into solid metal.

"It sucks you know," she continued. "It sucks when you have to take certain precautions just because you're not exactly _human_ ,"

At that point, her tears starting trickling down the sides of her face.

Her vision narrowed to Ryuu.

 **Acquiring target analysis:**

 **DETECTED male human**

 **NAME IN DATABASE: RYUUNOSUKE KUROSAWA a.k.a "Bae"**

 **Acquiring target biological response**

 **Initializing scanning process_**

 **_SCAN COMPLETED**

 **Heart and lung action are accelerating.**

 **Target is producing autonomic response.**

 **Target is experiencing fear.**

 **Scanning for physical damage**

 **_SCAN COMPLETED**

 **Mild fractures detected at rib cage and back of skull**

 _'Stop it, Eva'_

"It's over," Eva whispered, holding back her sobs. "We're done here, Ryuu."

 _'I don't want to hurt you.'_

Without looking at him for the last time as she said those words, Eva ran out of the locker room and she never stopped running until Yumiko's cries were so distant.

 _Damn I miss my first love, how we end up this way?_

 _So many broken pieces, wish you were to stay_

She didn't know what she was doing.

 _You told me you love me, all those beautiful lies_

She didn't know where she was going.

Who knew the weight of carrying a shattering heart in a mechanical body could be so heavy?

 _All the tears a shame, you never apologize_

An artificial intelligent being isn't supposed to feel, right?

 _Never apologize_

What a shallow understatement.

Her legs carried her so far into the open town until she finally broke down to her knees. She bent over on the sidewalk and cried so hard she was starting to feel queasy, if that was even possible.

Then, a man hollered at her.

"Girl! Get off the streets! Run! A monster is heading this way!"

Before Eva's built in scanner could properly analyse her situation, an upturned car landed right in front her. It was just coincidence she broke down at that very spot. If she would have moved an inch further, she would've have been all broken metal and scraps. The impact alone though wasn't enough to kill her, but her mom would definitely ground her for the rest of her immortality. She can kiss cheer championships and her human social life sayonara.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

The ground shook violently causing every vehicle on the road including the one in front of her to bounce and slide in rhythm. Eva wobbled trying to stand up and stabilize herself. A swarm of scared citizens were coming her way knocking her off her feet again as they ran frantically like ants from an insecticide repellent.

A long wailing scream of the siren sent warnings to citizens. This was a Tiger threat level.

Suddenly, a loud, off – key singing of and Iggy Azalea's 'Big Booty' rumbled across the sky like thunder and a gigantic and may I as well add _disastrous_ being thumped its way across the street. Eva didn't exactly know if it really was a monster of some sort or just some unlucky person with terrible steroid abuse and a bad case of failed plastic surgery and silicon injection gone wrong.

The 'thing' was so whacked, you could just spend like a second to laugh your ass off before realizing you should save your ass.

"BIG, BIG BOOTY, WHAT YOU GOT A BIG BOOTY," the monster sang. It momentarily stopped when it got stuck trying to maneuverer its way between two skyscrapers because of its oversized silicon injected butt. Honestly, that thing's ass was so big it looked like an elephant's behind after getting stung by a million bees.

With one violent wiggle, the monster sent those two buildings collapsing to dust and set itself free. "BIG BIG BOOTY, WHAT YOU GOT A BIG BOOTY,"

The monster was edging toward Eva although it didn't necessarily notice her. She would've laugh, but then it occurred to her a fuzzy memory in her brain where Ryuu had once gotten her so wasted at his friend's party she stood on the pool table and started twerking to that song.

She suddenly got so angry when she remembered it and shouted at the monster.

"HEY YOU!" Eva screamed.

The monster stopped and looked over her blown up bust. "HMM?"

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU?"

"IT'S BECAUSE I DID TOO MUCH SURGERY TO MYSELF TO ENLARGE MY BUTT SO I BECAME LIKE THIS. I CALL MYSELF QUEEN BIG BOOTY. NOW YOU BETTER RUN BEFORE I CRUSH YOU TO DEATH WITH MY BIG BOOTY" the monster snorted as it laughed.

 _'Maybe I'm not asking mom for a Kim K bubble butt for my birthday this year'_

Feeling the adrenaline rage seeping through every microfiber in her body, Eva crouched over next to the upturned car and lifted it up high above her head, aiming it at the monster.

"THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE TRIED TO ENLARGE YOUR GODDAMN BRAINS INSTEAD BITCH!" she screamed and tossed the vehicle right at the monster. The car crashed right into its face causing the surface to cave in. That's plastic surgery for you.

The monster touched its face only to feel it partially ruined and roared at the top of its lungs. "YOU INSOLENT CREATURE! I WILL SWAT YOU TO DEATH LIKE A PESKY MOSQUITO!"

Eva had to admit she was pretty brave for trying on some moves she had always wanted to hide, but at the same time she had to admit she was pretty stupid for doing that. She could've just ran like all the other citizens.

But _no_. She just had to be so _mad_ because her fucking ex – boyfriend decided to cheat on her today. That fucking asshole.

She wasn't prepared for the worst and a gigantic hand _swoosh_ ed and smacked her right off the ground and all the way directly into the open sky to open sky like rocket.

 **ALERT**

 **BANK TOWER LOCATION**

 **250 METRES**

 **CALCULATING POSSIBLE BODY DAMAGE: 79%**

 **CRASHING TARGET IN 26 SECONDS**

 **YOU ARE SO FUCKED YOU ARE SO FUCKED YOU ARE SO FUCKED**

"Shit," Eva muttered beneath her breath as she plummeted horizontally, feeling the pressure of cutting through air in a non – aerodynamic form. It felt like swimming at the bottom of the pool carrying a rock on your back.

 **CRASHING TARGET IN 10 SECONDS**

 **BODY LOCATION IS DIVERTED**

"Huh?"

She was no longer flying backwards.

"Are you alright, Miss? I caught you in time before you could fatally crash into the bank tower. With a 79% damage, I don't think you'll survive. My calculations said so." Said a blonde – haired cyborg who held Eva firmly in his arms.

Eva was dumbfounded as she looked into his eyes of black sclera and burning golden irises. Instinctively, her hand reached out to tuck away her hair obscuring her view. She could tell from his eyes that he was analysing her. Literally. He then diverted his gaze on the monster who continued singing off – key. "I detected all of the monster's weaknesses. Its skin is mainly melamine and it's degradable if I use intense fire." He said as he gently lowered Eva to the pavement. "Please take care of yourself."

"Genos!" a bald young man in a whacky superhero costume suddenly appeared alongside the cyborg. "You want my help?"

"It's OK, sensei. I'll deal with this monster. Besides, you told me to work on moving up my ranks, right?"

The bald man whined disappointedly. "Yeah, whatever. Oh! But let me try this first."

"HEY UGLY!" he shouted at the monster. With the sunlight reflecting off the smooth hairless surface of his head, he really looked like an egg.

That caught the monster's attention. "HUH?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THAT BIG FAT BUTT,"

"INCINERATE!" the cyborg shouted and automatically activated a surge of burning fire energy through his body.

"No, no, Genos." The bald hero complained. "You're supposed to say 'wiggle wiggle wiggle'. Follow the song remember?"

"WIG…"

"Uh…never mind, Genos. You're gonna make it sound awkward. Just..just do your job."

"Incinerate!"

The cyborg released a monstrous heat beam from the palm of his hands and it completely engulfed the monster. Wails of agony tore through the still day sky as the monster was cooked from the inside out and slowly shrivelled and burned to dust.

Eva who had been watching the whole scene, only found herself focusing solely on the cyborg. Without realizing it, she accidentally muttered, "He's _hot_ ,"

"Well yeah, he just shot out fire from his hands, man." Said a random passer by whom she didn't sense was with her witnessing as the two heroes took on the monster.

Eva didn't bother to glance at the person. "That's not what I meant."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Your love is where I'm falling, but please don't catch me**_

 ** _Ai no Koto Shiranai – Chapter 2_**

It was a long walk back home without text messaging sweet nothings with Ryuu on her iPhone. She left it in her bag at school anyway. 'Ahh…who cares?' she chided to herself.

For the first time, she didn't feel like self – destructing for forgetting her iPhone. Hacking all her ex – boyfriend's social media accounts can wait. Eva randomly sang 'Catch Me' to herself all the way to keep her company as she took the long route back home. She was closing in on a detached house painted in white with a beautiful tended garden and a black Mercedes parked in the garage.

'Oh, Mom's back home early today,' she thought.

As she unlocked the gates, she immediately sensed a presence travelling at such a high speed toward her and Eva didn't manage to avoid it and let herself be tackled to the ground with a thud.

"Ow…Oneechan…" she whined. She was being held firmly to the ground by a metallic figure of a young woman who was all silver from the colour of every strand of her shoulder length hair, all the way down to her feet. The only colour she had was her navy baseball jersey shirt and khaki coloured shorts.

"You good for nothing little sister!" the android scolded her. "You got us worried, you know that? I called your phone like a thousand times and Yumiko answered saying you just ditched cheer practise and with a tiger threat monster on rampage in town just what were you thinking, Eva?"

Eva pretended to pop a finger in both her ears. "Are you done?"

Her sister shot her a look. Very impressive for an android. "No, I am _not_. Where have you been? Why are there scratches on your body? Are you hurt? Did you lose a limb 'cos Mom is gonna get _so_ mad at you but she'll patch you up anyway and HEY! Look at me when I'm talking to you, young missy! What are you smiling at? I'm worried sick here and you can just _smile_?"

Eva snapped out of her trance and averted her gaze back to the raging silver android. "Huh? Nothing." But she still couldn't hold back her smile.

Her sister just sighed and raised her hands. She was just done with Eva's recurring reckless attitude. She got up and pulled Eva from the ground. "You know I care for you so much, Eva. We all do." She said slowly.

Eva dusted her practise attire. "Yeah, I know, Athena-neechan. Did mom program you to repeat that sentence? You've been saying that like a million times already for over the past, wait I don't know, 5 years?"

"You're over exaggerating,"

Eva scoffed. "Look who's _talking_ ,"

As they walked to the front porch together in silence, Eva spoke up. "I broke up with Ryuu,"

Athena turned to look at her. " _What_? You mean like 'we are never ever ever getting back together' kind of break up?"

Her sister was a Taylor Swift fan. She would buy every new album and practically dragged Eva to all of her concerts. Eva didn't mind as long as somebody was paying for the tickets.

"Yes, _that_ break up. It's over. Done. Caught him getting it on with a junior in the boys' locker room."

"You mean he's interested in males?" Athena asked curiously.

"No, the junior's a girl and you could just use the word 'gay', Athena. Summarises everything." Eva replied with a deadpan expression.

Eva could already smell something cooking in the kitchen as they got in the house. The TV upstairs was on so her mother was probably taking a shower or something. She always left the TV on if she was at home. There could be breaking news anytime.

"Oh. But…aren't you supposed to be devastated?"

"Believe me, I _am_ devastated." Eva replied unconvincingly. The aloof expression she wore confused her sister.

Athena bolted the locks. The keys jiggled as she shimmied to the couch. Gossip magazines and her assignments sprawled all over the floor. Since both look just as many, Eva wondered which one her sister was reading more. "You don't look sad, you know? Are you sure your wires are intact?"

Eva stopped to think. "Well….maybe just a teeny weeny bit frustrated but I got over it. Life goes on, sister. Besides…I think I found a 'replacement'."

Athena fell back against the couch lazily. "Oh really? Who? Is he hot?"

A certain blonde – haired cyborg flashed across Eva's mind. She hummed thoughtfully. "Yup he's that 'three degree burn' kind of hot. I mean _literally_ and nope I'm not telling you who. I'll tell Maya - neechan instead. _Sucker!"_ Eva stuck out her tongue at Athena. She guffawed loudly and raced up the stairs before her speed crazy sister could tackle her again.

"What? I heard my name." her other sister called out innocently from the kitchen while Eva scurried to her room and slammed the door shut, locking it behind her. She danced a few steps forward and completely plunged herself onto her soft cotton white bed decorated with tiny printed pink hearts all over.

She laid down still for a while, gazing up at the ceiling, recollecting old poems in her head and continued to sing the chorus of that Demi Lovato song over again. Just like that the memory of breaking up with Ryuu (and seeing his boner for the first time), getting slapped by a big ass monster was carried away, falling back miles and miles.

 ** _But you're so hypnotizing,_**

 ** _You've got me laughing while I sing,_**

 ** _You've got me smiling in my sleep,_**

She drew his name in the air with her finger, feeling it burn like his fire.

 _ **And I can see this unravelling,**_

 _ **Your love is where I'm falling,**_

 _ **But please don't catch me**_

' _GENOS'_

X

Somewhere in a local family Udon shop in City Z, Saitama was helping Genos calm down after the cyborg had a sudden coughing fit while they were having their dinner. The shop owner rushed over to their table with another glass of water and Genos downed it with one go. He placed the seventh empty glass on the table.

"Man, are you OK, Genos? I never would've imagined you coughing. You don't even sneeze for God sake." Saitama said to his disciple.

"I never would've imagined I could either, Sensei. There must be something going on with my body. I'll give Dr. Kuseno a call later." He replied.

Saitama brightened up all of a sudden. "Ah…maybe somebody's talking about you! My folks used to tell me that if you start coughing or choking for no reason somebody somewhere must be talking about you."

Genos' face darkened. "Are you serious, Sensei? Who could that be?"

His intense expression almost made Saitama choke himself. It couldn't be helped that the cyborg wasn't design to make a variety of facial expressions, but his naivety which he portrayed with an intense look seemed all comedic to Saitama.

Saitama guffawed like a drunken fat man and got everyone in the shop staring at them.

Genos raised a brow. "Why are you laughing, Sensei? I don't think I told you a joke."

The older bald male was all bright red like a tomato from laughing too hard. He knew he might just puke his dinner afterwards but he couldn't help it.

"Nothing...it's just that…" then he laughed a little bit more. "…you actually believed it. It's just superstition man…" and he laughed louder.

The young cyborg placed a finger under his chin and gazed at his bowl of half eaten Udon thoughtfully. "So it's not true. I better write that down later." He said.

Saitama abruptly stopped laughing and stared at his disciple. "Eh?"

X

Eva wished Yumiko hadn't come by to return her bag that evening. She would've avoided homework and call in sick tomorrow, but then she wouldn't get her phone back. Abandoning her geometry homework on the table, she unplugged her iPhone from the charger and flopped onto her bed.

"I wonder if he has Instagram."

She knew it was silly, but she typed his name anyway in the search engine but was only disappointed to find that his name didn't exist in Instagram's database. Then, she tried Facebook, Twitter and almost every kind of social media out there that she could think of but it ended up with the same result. Frustrated, she tossed her phone aside and sighed into her pillow.

"I fail at searching data. I fail at being a cyborg." Her groans were muffled by the pillow. "How am I even a cyborg and YEAH, COME IN. THE DOOR'S NOT LOCKED."

Her bedroom door creaked open and Athena popped her head in. "Watcha doin'?"

"Regretting life decisions." Eva breathed into the pillow.

Athena opened the door wider. "I brought you some hot chocolate."

"And nachos." Her other sister, Maya interrupted as she suddenly came in behind Athena.

"And hair clips." An elderly woman in her 50s followed in shortly.

Eva immediately sat up as she watched two silver androids and a human invade her room. "You guys…I thought family bonding time are on Saturdays." She whined. "I got homework,"

"You're a real loser at lying you know," Maya said. She popped open a large bag of nachos and sat next to the younger cyborg. Eva groaned and snatched the bag from her. She could down all the calories she wanted and still fit her butt in that tight little skirt anyway.

Athena cross – legged on the floor. "I told mom and Maya about your break up. We just want to make you feel better."

"You know I really hate to admit this, but for once you're actually kinda sweet, Athena." Eva said and scooped a handful of nachos before passing the bag to Athena. Her sister made a face and took her share of the nachos.

"Oh honey, it's pretty normal to cry over a boy once in a while." Said Dr. Yukio who was both creator and nurturing mother to her three artificial intelligent daughters. She was began brushing strands of Eva's duo tone hair of midnight blue and silver.

"I'm _not_ crying over him, mom. That guy's a jackass."

"Eva, language. Watch it."

"Sorry." She munched her nachos in silence.

"Oh, and by the way…" Maya butted in. "What's that something you said you wanted to tell me?"

Eva didn't know how but her sister's question got her flustered right on the spot. She tried to tuck a loose strand of hair, but her mother had already pulled everything into a French braid. "Well…um…I..uh…"

"She's got a new crush," Athena said.

"Say _whaaat_?"

"Isn't it a little too early, honey?"

Eva picked at her manicured nails. "Guys, guys, it was an accident, OK…so that big plastic ass monster slapped me and I went tossing into the sky and I was going to crash, well I _definitely_ was going to crash into that bank tower and I just didn't know how or when I went straight into his arms and…."

"Woah, woah, woah….hold your horses for a second there young lady." Her mother stopped her mid - sentence. "Did you just say you got slapped by a monster?"

Eva froze. "Uh..huh…yeah, I did." She felt Athena poke her left leg. Her sister mouthed 'you're so dead' at her and stuffed a handful of nachos into her mouth. Eva glared at her sister. She looked back at her mother. "Why?"

"I don't _believe_ you, Eva. You confronted a monster? You had the _nerve_?"

Eva sighed and pretended to scratch her nose. The female scientist had already began her series of nags. Not like it really bothered since she sounded nothing more than a bickering grandmother.

"Uh, mom….you and I both know I don't exactly _have_ any nerves…besides, like I said, it was an accident, OK? I was running away from school, 'cos well with that stupid break up thing and I don't even remember where I was heading to and the next thing I knew this weird monster just showed up and threw a car at me, not directly at me but it was a close shave. So I got mad and I threw it back. I sort of like, ruined its face." Eva argued. "It's that explanation good enough?"

"You weren't using your sensors?" Maya asked.

"No,"

"Idiot,"

"Thanks,"

Dr. Yukio rubbed her own temples softly. "Oh good God have mercy on my daughters…" she sighed. "And what were you saying about that boy?"

Maya and Athena began to lean eagerly toward their younger sister who was starting to overheat, since cyborgs don't naturally blush.

Eva opened her mouth to speak.

"He's…"


	3. Chapter 3

_**Every heart that loves, every heart that loves**_

 ** _Ai no Koto Shiranai – Chapter 3_**

"…So immensely hot," and Eva took a huge bite out of her double cheese burger.

Yumiko sipped every last bit of her zero sugar diet coke... "That's like…all you can tell me?" she asked. "You practically dragged me all the way to McDonalds just to rant about 'your crush' that I can hardly imagine. Like, what _exactly_ is his physical appearance? Does he have, like, Jensen Ackles's geometrically perfect face? Is he swag like Johnny Depp? _What_ is he _like_ , Eva?" then she stole a fry from Eva. "Why do calories have to taste so _sinfully good_? Being human sucks. Can't you ask your mom to turn me into a cyborg too? You guys don't really need to eat, right?"

"We do. But just for energy." Eva replied. "Oh, and a total body transformation is gonna cost you more than all of Kardashians' assets put together."

"Oh, never mind." Yumiko groaned and stole another fry.

"That guy he's…" Eva started. "He's a lot like me in a way that's obvious."

"What, you mean like he's severely whacked in the head? Why am I not surprised?"

"No, I mean, he's a cyborg."

"Oh. Oh wait…he saved you, right?"

Eva nodded while she stuffed the rest of the burger right into her mouth. "Yeff.."

"You're not talking about that S – class hero, right? What's his name..uh…"

"Genos."

"AHA! I knew I heard that name somewhere. My younger brother is such a major nerd for heroes he actually remembers ALL of their names. His more of the S – Class hero fan since they're the strongest or whatever. So it's that blonde cyborg, eh?" then she started grinning. "What happened to all that 'I only date guys in flesh and bones. No exceptions' oath you made and bribed me to become your 'witness' with a set of Victoria's Secret lingerie?"

Eva smile sheepishly. "Oh that…uh…alteration of clause, I guess?"

"Pfft…but he's…well not bad, I think? He's got that Sean O'Pry kind of vibe…yeah, he's hot. But, wait, no, he doesn't have eyes! That's creepy,"

"He _does_ have eyes, _God_ , they're called scleras. It's kinda like me, without these eyeballs." Eva pointed to her eyes. "You wanna see me without eyeballs? It's like taking off contact lenses. I don't feel shit,"

"Eww gross. No thanks. I'd rather see your mechanical twat by accident."

Eva laughed at Yumiko's blunt lewdness and her smile quickly faded when she saw Ryuu's friends, Kenzo and Reiji walking through the entrance sporting casual hoodies and t – shirts since it was the dawn of spring and the air was still pretty breezy. She rolled her eyes when she noticed a random girl checking them out.

They were part of her school's American football team. _Of course_ they were hot. That was why she hooked up with Ryuu in first place. He was hot. Did she just think of that in past tense: _was_? Yes, she did.

She nudged Yumiko's leg with a sneaker. "Don't look," she said softly. "Ryuu's minions at 3 o'clock."

The girl's eyes widened and breathed an 'OH MY GOD!' fanning herself aggressively despite the fast food store blasting with air – conditioners. She always had the hots for 'six foot tall, six pack ab worthy, quiet – and – mysterious – type' Kenzo Matsuoka. Before she could turn her head to join Eva's line of vision, the cyborg immediately clamped her still by the chin.

"I said _don't look_ ," Eva warned her.

"Ok, ok…sorry…but Kenzo – kun is there too, right?" Yumiko peeled off Eva's death grip from her jaw.

" _Yes,"_ Eva stated matter – of – factly "and stealing a glance at him isn't going to make him come up at you, fall on his knees and confess his love for you."

Yumiko pouted. "Well I tried giving him chocolates last Valentine's Day but…" then she started sniffing. "There were so many girls around his desk that day and he rejected all of them. I was watching behind the classroom door. I was so scared when I saw it. So I…ended up eating them all by myself while watching reruns of Secret Garden." She lowered onto the table and started fake crying. "Those were Belgium milk chocolates. How can anyone hate Belgium milk chocolates? And I..and I cried so hard when Joo – Won wrote that letter to Ra Im. It was so tragically romantic and devastating. Why is life so unfair?"

"You know, you're the whacked one here, Yumi." Eva said, although her eyes were still focusing on the two boys.

Reiji suddenly looked her way, making direct eye contact. A stunned Eva quickly pretended to fiddle with her phone. From the corner of her eye, she could see that he was still looking and almost went up to their table when he was abruptly stopped by Kenzo.

Reiji was always the clown of the group, but he didn't look too happy. After all, Ryuu was now in the hospital and it was because of her. Who knew an ex – girlfriend could be that taunting and dangerous. Watched 'My Super Ex – Girlfriend' anybody?

Eva whispered to Yumiko. "Once they're seated, I think we should go. Or either one of them will be ward mates with Ryuu. Or both. Your precious Kenzo is no exception."

Yumiko gulped. "Sure. Whatever you say,"

X

"Nothing seems to be wrong with your internal system, Genos." Said the mushroom – haired Dr. Kuseno while carefully inspecting the inner parts of Genos' body. "My boy, you're not entirely a machine. You are still prone to humanly mishaps once in a while. Nothing to fear."

Genos laid still on the surgical table while waiting for the prosthetic hands to place all the parts back into his body and close him up. Once the machines have finished their job, Genos got up to a sitting position. His mechanical fingers touched the breast plate of his armour. "It's not fear that I'm concerned about, Doctor. I just find it really strange though. I haven't been coughing in the past 4 years with this new body."

"Then it's another way to remind you that you're still human." The old doctor said with a smile.

The cyborg said nothing and paced across the room to a desk in the corner. He took out his notebook and a pencil and started scribbling something in it.

4 years since he first conducted a transformational surgery on Genos, the scientist grew very fond of the young cyborg and thought of him as his own son. He wished there were more options back then to save him instead of stripping away his mortality.

' _But the boy is strong.'_

He remembered so well the first time he had found Genos lying so helpless like a dying puppy in the ruined, massacred streets of his once hometown. He was so terrified, lonely and badly traumatized of watching his own family and home being selfishly torn away from him.

It was difficult to think about how at 15, he was willing to sacrifice all that he has got left for the sake of humanity and to avenge his family by taking the risk of becoming a whole new being.

Dr. Kuseno sighed softly. ' _He's 19 now_.'

Deep inside, he felt partly guilty, as if he was responsible for taking away the joy of the boy's youth. Maybe it was a good thing he didn't turn out like the other teenage boys of his age: doing silly mistakes, getting drunk, getting on the wrong side of the law….but he did wish that Genos would loosen up a little. There was more to this life than just monsters, heroes and vengeance. He wondered if Genos ever noticed. Or had he stopped noticing all that as a consequence of his transformation into a cyborg?

"Oh and by the way Genos," said the Doctor from across the lab.

Genos stalled momentarily and looked up. "Yes, Doctor?"

"You know, about the armour I've been working on…you see, it's almost about done but since I've been using only the finest quality of materials that I've ran out of certain, I should say quite vital parts to the prototype. But I do know somebody who has them."

"So, you want me to get them for you?"

"Ah yes, that'd be great indeed. I have the address. Come here for a while, my boy." The doctor said as he fished out a piece of paper from the pocket of his lab coat.

Genos abandoned his work and went up to the old scientist's side, peering at the paper curiously. He began analysing the information and successfully came up with a map.

"Oh, it seems quite a distance from Saitama – sensei's house but I'll manage," he said. "I have the address saved in my database."

X

"Tadaima," Genos called out at the front door of Saitama's little apartment. He removed his shoes, leaving only his socks on and entered the house. From afar, he saw his sensei lying lazily in front of the television in casual attire. He was laughing so loud that it nearly rattled the walls of his house.

Genos' optics zoomed in on the TV screen. His sensei was watching Running Man with Japanese subtitles.

"Good evening, sensei." He greeted. "I got you some snacks on my way back." He went to the kitchen and placed a large brown bag on the counter. He retrieved a Dragonball – Z mug from the cabinet and poured himself some ice water.

The bald man jerked his head up, finally noticing Genos. "Ah, Genos! I didn't realize you're back. Thank you for the snacks. That's very thoughtful of you."

Genos brought the mug to the living room and joined his sensei. "You're welcome." He gulped down some water. "Not watching news, Sensei?"

Saitama's eyes were still glued to the screen. "Nope. News is depressing. I thought I needed a break." And he laughed again. "But I did bust a monster or two while you were away. My ranks should have gone up by now. Not like it really matters."

The cyborg brought the mug to his lap. "I see." He glanced at the crooked wall clock. _'I should go now'_ he thought. "Excuse me Sensei but I will be leaving shortly to run errands for Dr. Kuseno. I might be back by night. Please don't wait me up."

Saitama turned to look at him. "Oh? Leaving so soon? Well, ok. Be sure to come back in one piece."

A small smile formed of Genos' lips as he responded to Saitama's joke. "I will, Sensei."

X

"This should be the house," Genos muttered to himself as he stood at the front porch of a house that was painted white with a combination of modern western and traditional touches. It had a very homely ambience, like a house with a big happy family.

Just like his family.

He wasted no time and rang the doorbell.

There were rustling sounds of people pacing around fast from inside the house. He could hear female voices and oddly, the sounds of tinkling bells as well.

" _Move your butt and answer the door,"_

" _Can't you see what I'm wearing? I might just trip in this skirt!"_

" _You're closest to the door,"_

" _ARGH! Fine! Slob sister…"_

Rustle, rustle, rustle…

"Hi, what can I do for…."

The door opened and a young girl with duo tone hair that past her shoulders stood stiffened at the threshold. She dressed up in the most extravagant traditional Indian saree that perfectly accentuated her beautiful figure.

"Who's at the door, Eva?" he heard the voice of another elderly female.

Before Genos could introduce himself, the girl made a turn on her heels and dashed into the house, leaving the door wide open. The little bells on her anklets jingled as she ran.

' _It's her. It's that girl.'_

X

' _It's him.'_ Her mind whispered. _'It's him.'_

She couldn't help it. That feeling it was so overwhelming that she just couldn't take it.

 _Jingle, jingle, jingle…_

She kept on running and running toward a bright opening that momentarily blinded her. In a blink of an eye, there she was, standing in an open field where lushly green grass sprawled acres ahead. The Sun was shining above her, but it was so pleasantly breezy at the same time. She giggled as a soft wind tickled her neck.

Eva laughed heartily as she danced with the wind, going round and round in circles, letting her skirt flow as she swayed.

Then, something caught her eye, far across the field.

He was standing there. Sun rays reflected upon his blonde hair, forming a halo of golden light.

The atmosphere was suddenly filled with a beautiful melody Eva recognized from somewhere.

It was then she whispered to herself, " _Har dil jo pyar karega…"_

 _Every heart that loves…_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Your eyes whispered 'Have we met?'**_

 ** _Ai no Koto Shiranai – Chapter 4_**

The Sun was slowly dipping, painting the sky with wonderful shades of lilac and orange. After taking a short tour around Dr. Yukio's laboratory to collect the requested parts, Genos was invited to join the female scientist for tea at the outdoor extended area of her luxurious house. The extension looked like a modified cabin – like shed with a long table sat in the middle and two park benches placed on either side of the table. The roof was made of glass where the sky could be clearly seen. After having a short chat, it seemed that Dr. Yukio and Dr. Kuseno were really good friends since their college days. It was also interesting to know that both of them were robotics geniuses, but Dr. Yukio however pursued a career in medical science.

Genos aimlessly glanced around the room, analysing almost everything that caught his attention. He detected another presence approaching.

It was that girl who opened the door for him earlier, except without the costume anymore.

"Tea, mom?" the duo – tone haired girl asked as she poured some freshly brewed tea into Dr. Yukio's cup. She was now wearing regular clothes: a baby tee that spelled 'Naughty Kitty' with a picture of a pirate kitten with an eyepatch and a pair of white hot pants.

"Thanks, sweetie." Said the doctor. "Did that saree fit you right? You can always ask your sister Maya to mail it back if you need a replacement."

He noticed the girl's nails were painted blood red and she had about three piercings on her left ear.

The girl dimpled. "Nope, that one's OK. I love it. I'm gonna feel like Ashwariya Rai for spring formal." Then she turned to the blonde – haired cyborg, cradling the tea pot in her hands as if the heat didn't bother her at all. Her blue eyes had a sudden careful look to them.

"Would you like some tea, Genos – san?"

"No, thank you." He politely declined. The girl only smiled in response and left the room with the tea pot.

Dr. Yukio took a short sip. "That's my daughter, Eva." She said. "She can be quite a handful sometimes. She and her two other sisters."

Genos remembered seeing two other mechanical beings when he entered the house. They were very well – designed and well – programmed female androids. He noticed how they behaved so much like regular human beings and if he hadn't saw them face – to –face he would've believed they really were humans.

"You don't happen to notice something different about, Eva?"

Genos raised a brow. "Pardon me?"

"Eva is just like you, Genos." The doctor said. "She's a cyborg."

The male cyborg struggled to find the right words to respond to that sudden fact.

It was… _unbelievable_. _'That girl's a_ cyborg _?'_

The scientist laughed at his sudden taciturnity. "Cat caught your tongue? You're the second person outside this household to know it. The other is her human best friend. She can get quite insecure about that matter, I have no idea why so she does her best at keeping it undercover. I should say she's doing a good job. I don't think she minds you know her little secret. You understand this, right?"

"I do, M'am." He answered.

Dr. Yukio gazed at the young cyborg thoughtfully, her wise aging eyes searching through his stoic countenance. She smiled. "I really must applaud Kuseno for constructing such a dashing young man as you are, Genos."

Genos felt his cheeks heating up at the compliment. Sure he was showered with praises since the beginning of his hero debut and now with a fan club dedicated to him which was growing fast, but being in the spotlight was not his intention of becoming a hero in the first place. Besides, too much unwanted attention was suffocating and he didn't like it. (Also because his sensei was still quite unhappy about his own reputation as a hero going unnoticed by the public eye). But getting a direct compliment from someone as notable as Dr. Yukio, it was an honour to him.

"I respect Dr. Kuseno like a father." He said. "But I also look up to you too, Dr. Yukio. It's very rare to see a female scientist who can thrive in the field of artificial intelligence and I really admire the dedication you put into creating very effective programs that can slowly erase that barrier between man and machine. Your knowledge in human anatomy is so vast that all your creations turn out to be so…" he suddenly trailed off when his golden irises caught Eva sauntering across the dining hall. She had earphones plugged in, listening to music and humming a tune softly while she typed away on her phone. She unexpectedly looked up to his direction. They locked gazes for a brief moment before she quickly looked away and picked up her pace before completely disappearing from his sight into another room, to the kitchen perhaps.

 **Appealing**

 **Alluring**

 **Exquisite**

 **Graceful**

' _Beautiful,'_ his own conscience decided just the right word for it. _'Definitely beautiful,'_

"What was that, boy?" the elder woman's eager curiosity interrupted his thoughts.

"Realistic," Genos answered quickly. "Your creations are very realistic."

The woman chuckled lightly. "Oh, thank you. Taking up a part time major in human psychology paid off after all." Her last sentence made her sound like she was talking to herself. "Would you care to join me and my girls for dinner, Genos? Maya is cooking up her specials tonight."

Genos reached for his phone from the front pocket of his jeans to check the time. It was 15 minutes past 7 and it would approximately take him another 30 – 45 minutes to reach the apartment. Saitama would be knocked out flat by then. He retired to bed early for the past few days, it was rather baffling but nonetheless his sensei never had a proper sleep schedule.

"You're too kind Dr Yukio but I'm afraid I must decline your offer. I'm living in with my sensei and I don't want to bother him if I reach home late. He had been sleeping early these few days. I don't wish to bother him with my heavy footfalls. One of the downsides of being a combat – built cyborg." He shrugged.

"Well, if you say so, then it can't be helped. I'll get Eva to escort you to the front,"

X

 _There I was again tonight_

 _Forcing laughter, faking smiles_

 _Same old tired lonely place_

Eva had to thank her mom for expanding their house. Since it was bigger now, she could buy some extra time to walk next to him. He easily cradled a large box with an arm which contained the parts he needed to complete the construction of his armour.

Even in silence, Eva felt weird static tingles all over her body, the same way a human teenage girl would feel butterflies. She swore she wanted to cry when he showed up at their porch earlier. Who would've thought both their inventors were college buddies?

' _The Angels are smiling down at me',_ she said in her mind _. 'I promise to be a good girl',_

 _Walls of insincerity_

 _Shifting eyes and vacancy_

Her eyes widened when she heard her name coming straight from his mouth for the very first time.

"Eva, right?"

 _Vanished when I saw your face_

She trailed her gaze all the way up his tall stature to meet those blazing irises of his. Maybe there was just something about the way he bore that deep countenance as his permanent face. If she could compare it to a bottomless open sea, then she admittedly would plunge herself into it and never wanted to swim back up to the surface. She just wanted to drown into him.

 _All I can say it was enchanting to meet you…_

"Yup, that's me." She said rather cheerfully, hoping to make the situation less awkward for her own sake. "About just now….I really have no idea what got into me. Did I freak you out?"

Why did all this felt like a little rush? Wasn't this supposed to be _just_ a crush? Besides she just had a break up _yesterday_. What was _wrong_ with her?

 _Your eyes whispered 'have we met?'_

"That's fine. I thought I was the one who freaked you out considering how I look." He said.

' _You look perfect. You're just so perfect.'_ She wanted to say to him.

"But it's good to know that you're alright." He added. "Otherwise the crash would've put you in really bad shape. Why were you letting yourself crash into the bank tower?"

' _Because I'm a crazy, nerveless bitch who just dumped her stupid cheating ass boyfriend'_

"I, uh, I don't know actually. I wasn't prepared for something like that so…I just tend to space out just because I know I won't die from it, so…yeah. Maybe that's why." Eva laughed nervously. When he wasn't responding, she quickly pretended to clear her throat. She honestly wanted to bang her head on a wall. "That's one lame ass reason you probably ever heard from the girl who tried to pick a fight with a monster, right?"

 _Across the room your silhouette_

 _Starts to make its way to me_

"It's understandable," he answered casually. Maybe there was also something about his face that could confuse almost anybody. His youthful voice was an awkward contrast with the way his eyebrows were scrunched up like 24/7. Like, just how effective was it trying to be a happy with that kind of face? He was gonna end up looking like a devilishly good looking psychopathic serial killer.

If he wanted to murder her, she was all up for it like, _right here, right now_ _baby. Do it mercilessly_. It did sound kinda _hot._

 _The playful conversation starts_

 _Counter all your quick remarks like passing notes in secrecy_

"I understand that you weren't designed for combat and since you're almost essentially a human, I advise that you always keep your guard up." He said.

Eva couldn't stop her fingers from tucking away her hair as she smiled shyly to the ground. Was he actually trying to say 'please don't get yourself hurt'? but his pride won't grant him the privilege?

"I will, Genos – san."

They were edging closer toward the door and Eva grimaced. If she could, she wanted to take him by the hand and take him into her room where they will spend the night getting to know each other, but dreams aside. That door was the reality and this was finally goodbye.

 _And it was enchanting to meet you…_

 _All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you…_

As they reached the door, with Eva's hand on the knob, feeling her human heart sinking as she opened the door for him, Genos suddenly said, "Please, just call me Genos."

He stepped out onto the porch and slipped on his shoes.

"Um, Genos?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. You know, for saving me. I meant to say it earlier."

And then, a miracle happened for a split second. He _smiled_. The serious, army – toughened looking cyborg smiled even though it was very faint and brief.

"You're welcome. I'll see you around then. Thanks for having me. Good night."

Eva pressed the side of her body against the edge of the door. "I'll…see you around too. Good night."

 _This night is sparkling don't you let it go_

 _I'm wonderstuck blushing all the way home_

 _I'd spend forever wondering if you knew_

 _I was enchanted to meet you…_

Even as he slowly disappeared into the dark of the night, Eva watched him go without feeling the pinch of him leaving.


	5. Chapter 5

_**I think I'm ugly and nobody wants to love me**_

 _ **Ai no Koto Shiranai – Chapter 5**_

Fubuki knew that popping up at Saitama's first thing in the morning hoping she could coax him once more into joining her organization was going to be the worse move she's ever made but there she was, standing in front of his door that had a seemingly long crack from the first time they fought. She demanded to be unaccompanied by her assistants, the other fellow heroes under her wing, convincing them she could deal with that egghead.

Was she scared of Saitama? She didn't know that for sure. But she had to admit he was intimidating for someone so average.

After counting to 10 like a million times and hesitating every time, she raised a hand and knocked on the door.

First few raps…no reply.

Another 5, and she could hear shuffling noises, yawns, soft curses and dragging footsteps.

The bolts unlocked from inside and the door swung open, revealing a very dishevelled, half asleep and very annoyed baldy only in his striped pyjama bottoms. Fubuki unknowingly flushed at his shirtless body. Saitama had a really nice body although he didn't carry it around in public like an advertisement. He was lean, muscular but not too bulky; the type Fubuki secretly fancied in a man.

"What do you…" when he realized it was Miss Blizzard of Hell, he toned down the annoyance in his voice, "Oh, it's you Fubuki. What's up?"

Fubuki put on her most charming smile. "Morning, Saitama. I just…um…came to visit you!" she flashed the paper bag she had been clutching right into Saitama's face. "I brought us breakfast, you, me and Genos. Can I come in?"

Saitama grunted but he opened the door wider.

Smiling, Fubuki stepped out of her high heels and entered his apartment. She shuffled to the kotatsu table in the middle of the living room and placed the bag on it. She looked around and noticed how well – kept his house was for someone so butt lazy like him. It had got to be that cyborg doing all the housekeeping.

Speaking of Genos, she saw that his futon was neatly folded on his side and his charger was left plugged into the socket, but his phone wasn't there.

"Where's Genos?" she asked.

"Oh, he left early this morning to -his-name's place for, uh, I don't know. Upgrading parts or something I guess?" Saitama replied still looking sleepy. "Hey, do you mind if I freshen myself up first?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll lay the table."

Saitama disappeared into the bathroom while she sauntered to his kitchen. She opened the bottom cabinet and started scavenging for plates, bowls and chopsticks. She smiled to herself at his mismatched kitchenware.

'He should get himself a wife,' she thought. 'He's not getting any younger'

At the thought of it too, she wasn't getting any younger either. Of course she was only 23, but most girls her age were already going on dates and such. She used to have a crush on a boy in high school, but too bad her sister ended up uncovering it first. Much to Fubuki's dismay. That was the first and last time she had ever liked boy.

' _Don't you_ **dare** _have anything to do with her, or you won't live to see sunrise tomorrow,'_

She swore the poor boy almost pissed his pants while being confronted nearly 10 feet above the ground by her enraged seafoam green – haired sister.

 _Damn you, Tatsumaki – neechan._

Her thoughts were distracted when she heard flushing sounds coming from the bathroom. She went straight to the kotatsu table and started arranging the items on the table neatly.

 _I already feel like a housewife_. Then she blushed. She wondered if she'd like it.

"Thanks, Fubuki." She heard him say.

She looked up and saw Saitama coming toward the table. He had changed to shorts and his favourite 'Oppai' t – shirt.

Fubuki smiled and patted on the floor next to her, signalling for him to sit down. "Let me empty the food into the bowls first."

Saitama switched on the TV. There was a boring talkshow on the first channel so he pressed the button on the remote repeatedly until he found something he liked. There was a playback episode of Shingenki no Kyojin. Good enough.

He sauntered over to the table and sat crossed – legged beside Fubuki. "Smells good,"

"Yup. I knew you'd like it," she said.

There was silence for a moment as she prepared for their breakfast before she finally spoke up. "Actually Saitama….there's something else I wanted to ask you…" she started slowly.

"Hmm? What?"

Her hands stalled. "I…I want you to join my group. I really do,"

Before she knew it, the table suddenly split into two when Saitama slammed his fist down on it. Fubuki yelped and recoiled back in fear.

Saitama, now angry, abruptly stood up to his feet and grabbed Fubuki roughly by the wrist. He dragged her to the front door, opened it and yanked her out. She managed to land on her rear with a soft thud as he must've tried to hold back most of his strength.

"I really don't know what the fuck is your problem," he spoke in a threatening tone. "But if you ever come up with that again, don't bother coming here. _Ever_. Or I can't promise that I won't hurt you the next time,"

Just like that, he slammed the door in her face.

A stunned Fubuki only stared at the door with wide eyes. Her whole body was trembling.

' _What have I done?'_

She held on to her own body, trying to stop it from shaking.

 _All alone_

So what if she had so many followers? So what if she was constantly surrounded by people who'd do anything for her within a snap of her fingers?

What meaning was there to all of that…if deep inside her heart, she only felt loneliness?

 _I'm all alone, all alone, I'm all alone_

And the moment Saitama chased her out that feeling had only gotten worse.

It was as if he'd left a bigger hole in her broken spirit.

 _I'm always all alone_

When she was fully aware of the feeling that slowly consumed her, she trembled harder and fat tears welled up in her eyes.

She succumbed to her wrecked emotions and cried. She cried like she never did before in years.

The harder she tried to stifle her sobs, the louder they grew and echoed throughout the empty corridor. She didn't remember the last time she had cried this hard. She just stayed there, shaking, letting what seemed like endless tears stream down her face and feeling so empty.

She didn't remember how long she stayed that way or neither did she hear his door creak open and realized that he was now kneeling in front of her. His shadow engulfed her cradling form.

"Hey," his voice was softer now, almost like a whisper. He gently placed his large hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Fubuki, look…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to throw you out like that."

But she wasn't looking and her persistent sobs drowned him out. Saitama then softly cupped her face with his hands so that her eyes met his when he tried to speak to her again. "Listen…I'm really, really sorry. I definitely didn't mean when I said that I'll hurt you. I will _never_ hurt you. I swear. I swear it on…uh…on Genos." And he later muttered a 'sorry Genos' under his breath. "Don't cry, Fubuki. Just please…don't cry."

"I'm scared," she croaked. "I don't want to be alone. Not anymore. Don't leave me alone…" and she breathed out his name. "Saitama,"

Saitama brought her close to his body into a warm embrace and held her so carefully like she was a fragile baby animal. His fingers were tangled in the short strands of her deep forest green hair. "I won't leave you, Fubuki." He said gently, trying his best to hush her sobs. "I'm really sorry, OK?"

Fubuki gingerly wrapped her own delicate arms around his back and sobbed into the fabric of his shirt. He smelled of detergent powder and antibacterial shower cream. It was going to be a scent she'd look forward from this moment on. Even Chanel No.5 didn't smell as good as this.

"Sorry about this morning," he said. "How about I cook something for you? Omelette fried rice maybe? I just restocked my pantry yesterday and I'm really excited."

"What about…your table?"

"Neh…I'll probably ask Genos to buy another one since he doesn't have anywhere else to scribble on in his book. I swear that kid's like a 6 year old sometimes. I even feel like a baby sitter or something," he snorted.

In between her soft sobs, Fubuki managed to smile. Being in the arms of a man who could kill even the strongest monster with one punch…she wanted to stay like this for just a little longer.

X

The days flew by rather quickly and before she knew it, Saturday night finally came and it was this year's most awaited spring formal with Bollywood Dreams as the main theme. Finally an extra valid reason for Eva to show off some extra skin.

The school's event hall was decorated with multiple vibrant coloured fabrics that hung from the ceiling, walls covered with thick colourful curtains and decorative items with pictures of elephants were everywhere. There was just so much glitter. The art club and theatre props team did a splendid collaboration for the set – up. There was even a photo booth and a henna parlour.

With so many Japanese students packed in hall wearing traditional Indian costumes, it was definitely a sight to see and with popular Hindi songs blasting from the speakers and everyone looked like part of the classic scene where everything morphs into a music video.

And Eva looked like she was fit to play the heroine.

Instead, she sat on a large cushion all alone at a corner with a large plate of spicy food she didn't know what they were called and had already drank her third glass of fruit punch. She was bored out of her skull.

"EVA! EVAAA!"

She looked over her shoulder to see Yumi running toward her in a sky blue Saree. Her left forearm was covered with beautifully detailed flowers and mandela designs. "Eva! Look what I got!" and she proudly showed her henna – covered hand to Eva.

Eva smiled. "It's beautiful."

The blonde girl giggled. "Aren't you going to get one?"

"Nah…"

Yumi glanced over at the food section. "Hmm…I'm hungry. Hey, what are you eating?" she asked, pointing to Eva's plate.

"Uh…I have no idea but don't try it. It burns like hell," Eva raised her glass to take another sip of her drink. A random girl seated next to her had unexpectedly knocked her arm causing the glass to tip and the punch to spill into a puddle all over Eva's skirt. The girl profusely muttered her apologies and tried to help Eva clean up the mess.

"I'll – I'll get you some napkins!" the girl stuttered.

"It's OK. I'll handle it." Eva replied calmly. She stood up and the stain spread wider. "Yumi, I'm going to the bathroom." She said to her friend who helped her hold her plate of food. The girl was wary enough not to even take a pinch of it, or else a crumb was all it took to send her to the hospital with a case of diarrhoea.

"You want me to follow you?" she asked, looking very concerned. She knew Eva hated fabric stains as much as she loathed having pickles in her cheeseburger.

Eva sighed. "It's just a goddamn stain, Yumi."

As she made her way toward the front entrance, she ignored the awkward stares everyone else gave toward that giant stain of punch on her skirt. Even the quiet Kenzo that she spotted intentionally mellowing out from the group he was in, had managed to steal a glance at her but not too long before he went back to playing with his phone; a habit of his since he wasn't the kind who'd hardly hold a conversation with anyone. Eva picked up her pace in those 10 – inch heels and pushed open the heavy doors of the hall.

Eva knew just how many times she walked through these corridors, but searching for the bathroom on your own in an empty school could give anybody the jitters. Even for people who didn't have nerves like her. Not a figure of speech.

The ambience out here sounded dead to her ears. She could even hear the clicking sounds of her own high heels against the floor of the corridor. Eva examined her skirt. "I ruined my costume. What could get any worse than this, huh?"

A sudden gush of wind that blew even loose strands of her hair forward stopped her in her tracks.

She looked back instantly.

 _Nobody._

' _That's weird.'_

Even if it was a person, she could've sensed that. But it was practically useless to rely on her own sensors after she had purposely set them in a moderately sensitive mode to avoid from her being suddenly extra conscious or jumpy in public and have everyone think she's the new vampire – morphed Bella Swan.

Besides, it couldn't have been the wind from outside either since this corridor area was enclosed and fully air – conditioned.

Then, a funky smell hit her nostrils.

She wrinkled her nose at a strange scent that somehow came together with the sudden wind. The corridor was filled with a very faint odour of…a wet _dog._

' _Huh, maybe a stray_ ,' she thought and proceeded to the ladies'.

She turned on the faucet and began to carefully clean the stains from her skirt. With her costume partially drenched, she didn't think she'd want to stay here much longer.

Maybe someone had heard her thoughts and decided to grant them, but in a very twisted way.

Because that was when she heard the loudest CRASH that almost shook the whole school and then the ugliest cry of an angry beast that twisted her wires in a knot.

And when the ground shook with a thousand footsteps of people running for their lives, Eva wanted to puke at the realization of a monster attacking the school hall where hundreds of students and teachers were celebrating spring formal.

And among all of them was her hopeless best friend she loved so much who was still waiting for her to take that plate from her hands.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Party girls don't get hurt, can't feel anything, when will I learn?**_

 ** _Ai no Koto Shiranai – Chapter 6_**

Last year, Eva thought Mr. Yamada, her history teacher was just a plain crazy old man. The colourful geometrical patterned tie he wore everyday was the only 'life' there was to his otherwise boring demeanour. His lessons can effectively drug anyone to sleep and they can suddenly recognize their grandparents they've never met through their dreams. He was _that_ good.

And she thought it was funny during Ancient Greek class when he said that "Dogs will always be man's best friends….even in hell," because apparently Hades, the lord of the Underworld had a "pet dog" himself.

LOL.

But right now, she wished she remembered if he ever mentioned whether Hades taught his pet any good old dog tricks. Then at least she could try to get this 7 foot tall Cerberus, the three – headed hell hound to nicely put Yumiko aside and sit like a good dog.

But it wouldn't work that way if this monster only knew how to _kill;_ especially since it was some sort of hybrid standing on twos with a body like Arnold Schwarzengger pre – Terminator all covered in slick black fur and thankfully was sensible enough to wear a pair of ripped jeans to cover up its " _ding – dong."_

Now where was a handy Ancient Greek monster 101 annihilation manual when she needed one?

The monster bellowed with rage and randomly swatted a boy who was trying to get past it. The boy ended up with a bone – crushing crash against a wall and fell into an unconscious heap onto the floor.

He was still breathing. Just a few broken bones and a dislocated shoulder but he was still breathing.

Eva analysed the creature's strength data. That wasn't even a 1% of its power. Who knew what else it could do, now that Yumiko was its hostage. Yumi screamed at the top of her lungs but there was no use. Eva only feared for her.

"EVA! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR?"

Eva spun around to the direction of the voice, and she nearly fell over herself in utter shock.

Kenzo was running toward her.

That was the first she heard him speak that loud. He hardly ever spoke in a complete sentence. She used to think he had autism.

She tried to act tough. "What does it look like? I'm trying to save my best friend!"

"That's suicidal! You're crazy!"

"Not as crazy as Yumi is crazy over _you_ , you ignorant jackass!"

"What?"

"Forget it! Help me come up with a rescue plan!"

"Are you _insane_? That thing is a monster for God sake!"

The Cerberus growled, saliva dripping from all three of his jaws and Yumiko's cries weren't as loud anymore. She wasn't trashing much. She was getting exhausted.

Eva grabbed Kenzo by his collar and glowered at him, ignoring that he was a head and a half taller than she was. This newfound sassiness; she was getting surprisingly better at it since her breakup.

"Look, if I can put Ryuu in the hospital then I can send that fucking _thing_ back to hell." She released him and walked away, leaving the green – haired male to look at her disbelievingly.

With all this havoc and shit panicking going on, she didn't know which was worse: the fact that she literally didn't have nerves at all or that she didn't have a plan but she just acted like she knew what to do because her best friend was in a monster's death grip and because her pride was too much as to back down and flee after she'd just bitched at her ex – boyfriend's best pal.

As she stared at the dangling chandelier from the ceiling, she didn't know why the chorus from Sia's song crossed her mind, amidst all of the screaming, roaring and yelling.

 _I'm….gonna swing….from the chandelier…from the chandelier…._

That was exactly what she was going to do.

Everyone else momentarily forgot about panicking as they watched the captain of the cheer squad climbing up the wall with her bare hands; something they thought only Spiderman was capable of. Eva didn't know how she resolved to pulling this stunt, but a cyborg's gotta do what a cyborg's gotta do even though it was utterly brainless. She honestly couldn't imagine how much dumber she could get if she still stayed human.

Eva crawled closer to the chandelier. Thankfully the menthols didn't emit light that would hurt her eyes from an up-close view. While hanging upside down, she could see the monster randomly scaring people which she thought was pretty childish and that Yumi was getting weaker as minutes went by. She needed to act fast.

But as she steadied herself, gripping on to the chandelier with hopes that it wouldn't fall much earlier than she expected (it was going to fall anyway she had thought), she saw something else happening down there.

Kenzo threw something at the monster. The creature bellowed angrily and just like that, it released Yumi from its grip. The boy quickly manuevered his way through the monster's legs and was fast enough to scoop up Yumi and rushed her over to the cushions. But Eva knew the monster had a change of plans. Just like the story of the greedy dog who wanted the bigger bone, the Cerberus was going after Kenzo instead.

Despite not on buddy – buddy terms with him, Eva still needed to back up that guy's ass for Yumi's sake. That was when she charged at the monster.

The impact of the chandelier knocked the Cerberus over its feet causing it to be in a daze, but not for long. As Eva swung backwards, hoping to gather enough momentum to charge for the second time, the Cerberus went ballistic. It growled like a rabid dog (or rabid dogs) and lunged for the chandelier; snapping the cords with one paw.

Eva's own screams drowned everyone else's in the hall as she plunged all the way down with the chandelier and crashed onto the floor. She was starting to lose grip on herself and felt painful tingling sensations all over her body and a weird void feeling in her right arm. That was when she realized her arm had completely sloughed off.

The Cerberus towered over her. The middle head yanked away the fallen chandelier, leaving her unarmed and exposed; baring yellowish sharp canines at her. Deep growling noises rumbled in its throats as it lowered all three heads down. Eva was slowly losing her conscious and thought death smelled just as bad as the monster's rancid breath.

Everything around her melted in slow motion and whatever she was hearing grew distant and didn't make sense to her anymore. But the last thing she knew was that the monster suddenly exploded into sputtering blood and flying limbs.

And a cape – cladded figure emerged as the monster dropped dead. The figure was coming toward her.

"Oh, your arm came off."

X

Eva felt like she was in a swimming state; like her entire body was submerged but not in water. The feeling wasn't unpleasant. It was just a little confusing and misty. It felt like she was dreaming while asleep, or sleeping while dreaming as if neither made any sense.

She knew she was broken, but she felt warm, she felt safe. She felt protected, like a newborn in the arms of her mother.

She could hear voices, but it was difficult to concentrate hard enough to understand them in her languid state. But she managed to pick up a few words that were so deeply casketed in worry, regrets and fear.

" _I should've been there…"_

" _Don't let go…"_

" _Please hold on…"_

And the words _"I'm sorry"_ repeated like a record player on loop, lulling her to sleep. The emotions in that simple word was so clear that her own heart weighed down.

It was like staring up at the surface from the bottom of a pool in daylight; there was when she saw a face as she was about to drift away far into unconsciousness. She was already too tired, but she still wanted to look at that face although her vision was cloudy.

A face of a boy with the most intense golden irises that was searching for her, fearing that she'd go far away and never come back.

She tried to lift hand. She wanted to touch him, to say that she was alright but she was too exhausted.

Eva finally succumbed to a deep sleep.

" _I'm sorry, Eva…"_

X

"Yo, Saitama. Are you sure that guy's OK?" King whispered to Saitama while the two men duelled at this new fighting game King had purchased. The highly respected S – class hero decided to spend the night at Saitama's with a good playstation game, instant ramens and bottles of coke.

Saitama casually glanced over his shoulder to look at his disciple who had been sitting at the newly bought kotatsu table since this morning, writing god knows what on a piece of paper which he ended up crumpling furiously into a ball and throwing it onto the floor. The waste paper basket had already fallen over from too many crumpled papers and spilled on floor around the cyborg. Genos was literally sitting in the middle of a sea of crumpled balls of paper.

"I don't know man." Saitama whispered back. "He's been at it since this morning. He already made half the amount of trash when I woke up."

The bald man cleared his throat, hoping that would distract Genos but the cyborg was already attempting to write on another sheet of paper.

"Hey, Genos."

The blonde cyborg looked up. "Yes, Sensei?"

"Are you OK?"

"No, Sensei. I'm not."

This guy was brutally honest. Saitama and King paused their game and exchanged glances.

"Are you trying to get back to school or something?" King asked, taking a swig of his coke.

"No. I didn't complete junior high and I didn't join high school. I'm not eligible for a college diploma." Genos replied while scribbling furiously on the paper so hard that his pencil might just break.

Saitama put away the game console and crawled to the kotatsu table. He picked up a ball of paper and opened to read it. "Then what are you doing?"

"Who's Eva?" King unexpectedly joined in as he inspected another random piece he picked up from the floor. The cyborg managed to fill an entire page with his typically boyish but neat handwriting. King wasn't the kind who'd actually read every word and crumpled back the piece of paper.

Saitama's eyebrows raised. "Eh…you already have a girlfriend so soon, Genos? Why didn't you tell me?"

Genos paused momentarily and sighed. "She's Dr. Yukio's daughter and she's not my girlfriend, sensei."

He continued, "I feel like it's my fault she got hurt. I wish I knew where she went to school then I would've known immediately it was her school that was under the Cerberus attack. If I knew then I would've gone sooner. I feel indebted to Dr. Yukio for giving me the parts I needed for my armour. The least I could do was to keep her daughter safe." Then he sighed sadly and put down his pencil. "And I failed."

"Nah kid…" King said. "It's not your fault. Things just happen. Was it that three – headed dog attack at Kaito Academy?"

"Yes." Genos replied. "I don't know how she's faring but since she's a cyborg too, she should be OK by now. I want to pay her a visit so I've been desperately trying to compose my heart – uhm… _core_ felt apologies."

"Writing is boring." Saitama interrupted. "I suck at writing essays. Never made it above a big fat F during my school years. But I do have an idea to propose. You said you want to keep her safe, right?"

The young cyborg's face sparkled with hope as he leaned in to listen to his sensei. "Yes, I do, sensei. What is your idea?"

Saitama smiled triumphantly.

So Genos bought his dumb theory of moving up ranks to become stronger.

He would definitely buy this one.


	7. Chapter 7

_**I am in misery. There ain't nobody who can comfort me**_

 _ **Ai no Koto Shiranai – Chapter 7**_

 **A/N: HEEEEEEEY GUUUUUUUYSSSS! OMG, I'm sooooooooo sorry I haven't been updating for quite some time. A new semester started and for some of you who don't know, I'm an animation student. I'm currently doing a degree and workloads are starting to pile up. I've got to meet deadlines for 2D, layout design drawing, photography and guess what? I have to do a screenplay for the remake of 'The Nightingale and the Rose'. I can barely catch my breath lately. Can't wait for the mid semester break so I go back to fanfic writing.**

 **Also, I'd love to thank you guys for the faves and reviews! THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! You have no idea how excited I am to get feedbacks from all of you. I understand that many find the Hindi scene ridiculous, but hey, there's no harm in trying something out of the ordinary right? Besides, I'm one of those Malaysians who love Hindi movies. I remembered dancing in front of the TV screen with my cousins when we were kids.**

 **As for this chapter, I'm sorry that it's shorter than the other chapters but I couldn't bear to keep you guys waiting, so here it is. I hope to get back to you guys soon.**

 **Happy reading!**

 **Love, Hana - chan**

X

Eva got Maya to send her to the hospital to visit Yumi before her sister left for campus that afternoon. Yumi wasn't much of a noon napper and Eva had found her lying in her upgraded hospital bed with more pillows than a baby would even need and flipping through TV channels, while scowling at all the boring programs. No E!, no life. That was Yumi.

Even in her current state, there was just no such thing as a dishevelled Yumiko. Her face was bright even without makeup and her blonde locks looked silky soft. She even smelled like peaches and strawberries, her favourite Korean branded shower cream.

The blonde's face perked up when she saw Eva carefully closing the door behind her. "Heeey," she drawled, grinning from ear to ear. "How's your arm?"

Eva raised a brow. "I was about to ask how were you, silly. _You're_ the one in that bed. Baked you some mini banana cupcakes this morning. I'm gonna put them here," she placed the pink container she brought along on the side table. "By the way, how did you know about my arm?"

A playful giggle escaped Yumi's tiny lips. Her cheeks were slowly turning pink. "Before I tell you that, I just wanna say thanks. Thanks a lot, Eva. You're my fairy god cyborg."

Eva raised both her brows at how funny that term sounded. "Um…. _okaaaay_ ….I don't get you,"

"There. Those flowers," Yumi pointed to a bouquet of crimson roses that rested on the one – seater guest sofa. The bouquet was so big, Eva estimated it to be half as tall as Yumi. "My prince charming paid a visit this morning!"

Eva smirked. She lifted the portable hospital chair with her reattached right arm and sat next to Yumi's bed. She crossed her arms. "Kenzo, huh? So _he_ told you?"

Yumi nodded vigorously. "He's so _sweet!_ I couldn't believe it was him standing at the door this morning. I was so lucky I took an early bath and my hair dried just in time."

"He saved you anyway that night."

"Well, yeah…but it was you, Eva. You were the one who saved all of us. Kenzo – kun said he thought you were just bat shit crazy because he still didn't believe what Ryuu told him about you. He didn't know you were that strong. And you wanna know what Ryuu said to him?"

"What?"

"He said he thinks you're an _alien_." And she laughed loudly. It was because Yumi had such a tiny voice she sounded like a happy child on a swing when she laughed. It was adorable. "You're ex – boyfriend is such an idiot!"

Eva snickered. "Which makes me an idiot for dating him. You think he's dating that whore?"

"I thought I _warned_ you about rules of recovery. Rule #1: Don't give two shits about your ex for the first few months post breakup. But, oh well. Let's just ignore that for a moment. Rule #2: I don't remember if there's even a fucking rule number two. _Whatevs_. You mean that girl who gave him a BJ? Um…nope. She got freaked out. I think she transferred herself elsewhere. Can I have the muffins?"

The cyborg reached for the pink container and passed it to her friend. "Splurge yourself." She said. The blonde took it appreciatively.

" _Fo wenf feer pfactifff?"_ Yumi asked while munching a whole muffin she stuffed into her mouth.

Eva lightly pinched Yumi's cheek. "Don't talk while you're eating, dummy. I can't have you extend your stay for accidental food suffocation."

The other girl munched quickly and swallowed down her food. "So when's cheer practise?"

"Since you brought that up, I've been thinking about resuming practises this Saturday." Then Eva sighed. "I'm so worried. I don't even have the choreography in check."

Yumi unwrapped another miniature muffin as she listened to Eva. "It's easier to come up with moves when you hear the song. I've been mixing tracks on my phone last night till 3 – ish AM and then I remembered hospitals were homes for dead people so I didn't want to risk seeing one sharing a room with me. But I say we stick to one song this year. I was thinking of going KPOP." She held out a muffin to Eva.

It seemed a little unethical, but the cyborg took it anyway and ate it. "Whatevs. As long as it's good, I'll go with anything."

Her phone notified a new message. It was from Athena.

 _ **Dong. U need to come home like, right now.**_

Eva speed texted back.

 _ **I'm only here for like, 15 mins dong. What's so goddamn urgent?**_

Her phone buzzed.

 _ **Oh, nothing really. Maybe I'll just tell Mr Titanium Blondie u don't wanna see him. K bye.**_

 _ **Mr Titanium wh**_

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Eva screamed.

Yumi nearly choked on her sixth muffin. "THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" she screamed back.

Eva quickly stood up from her seat just like that scene from Sound of Music when Julie Andrews got butt poked by a pineapple at the dining table. "I need to go now,"

The blonde girl's features crestfallen. "But you said you'd be here till evening…"

"I know…but something's up. Like, something _really_ important."

Something like _'your – fucking - crush – wants - to -fucking – see – you - in – your - fucking – house – that - it's – so – fucking – important – your - fuc, I mean, 'lovely' sister - fucking - texted – you'_ kind of important.

But she couldn't just say that to Yumi or that tiny chipette will have her head. Since it's sort of detachable.

"You mean like… 'drinking a grande Americano from Starbucks during recess before Calculus cos Calculus is the first class after recess and Miss Kobayashi sings to you the formulas like a siren with Donatella Versace's face after surgery' kind of important, right?"

Eva took a split-second to register that. "Uh…yeah. _That_ kinda important." And she topped it with subtle nervous laugh.

Then Yumi made a gesture like she was trying to shoo off a stray animal. "Run along now, darling." She spoke in a mock Victorian accent. It sounded funny with her tiny voice and her Japanese tongue. "But do make me a bigger cake next time, yes? The muffins are yummy by the way. You're totally sabotaging me just cos you can't get fat and I'll gain 10 pounds in like a second after having a spoonful of sugar. You sabotaging mechanical bitch."

"You're being unrealistic, you squeaky bimbo. Nobody gets fat in one second. And yes, I'll bake you something else when I visit you tomorrow. Cotton cheesecake or red velvet?" Eva asked.

Yumi hummed thoughtfully.

"Can I have both?"

"Glutton."

"Don't blame me that the food here sucks, OK?" the blonde girl complained.

Eva sighed. "Whatever. I'm going now. Don't let Kenzo get to that tiny brain of yours."

"And don't let Mr. Demon Cyborg get into that tiny little skirt of yours without telling me firsthand. But if you guys ended up doing it anyway, I need a full coverage on it. Like wow, a cyborg and a cyborg losing their virginities. That's _hot._ Genos looks like that dominating, bondage – fetish loving type. Who knows?"

Eva's face scrunched in disgust. " _Gross._ I don't like him enough to have sex with him, OK? He'd probably blow my head off."

"Or blow _inside_ you." Yumi sniggered.

"Ugh. You're fucking twisted. I should just leave now before you start pulling at my wires. Ciao, horny bimbo."

"See ya, Saint Eva."

Eva closed the door behind her and fished out her phone from her sling clutch bag.

 **Dong. Pick me up.** _ **PRONTO.**_

Her sister replied before she could even count to 3.

 **I'm already downstairs, retard.**

Eva cursed under her breath and dashed for the elevator.

X

Eva didn't exactly know what sort of reaction was appropriate at that moment when the Demon Cyborg fell down onto his knees and bowed to her like she was an Empress when she stepped into her house.

He looked like he was expecting her to chop his head off and he tried to make sense of himself but he spoke a little too fast like a sped up Siri that even the processors in Eva's brain couldn't make out what he was trying to say.

But what he said last almost had her entire system to shut down.

"Please, Eva. Allow me to be your bodyguard. I want to protect you. I definitely can't live with myself knowing that I did nothing to keep you safe." And he bowed even lower until his forehead kissed the cool marble floor of her living room. "Please," he insisted.

Internal computer errors were going off one by one inside Eva's head. Seeing him so miserable was killing her but his sudden request plunged her mind into a black hole that she couldn't decide for herself.

"I..I'm sorry…"she said slowly. "But you said you wanted to be my _what_?"


End file.
